You don't know how much I appreciated you last post about direct transfers. I had called the IRS today because I received a 1099R for distribution of retirement savings that I had transferred to my broker due to seperation of service from my previous employer. This IRS agent had me almost in tears. She was saying that I could not take my 403b fund or my pension fund and "roll" it over into an IRA. She said that now I would be subject to the tax on all that money and I would also exceed the yearly maximum IRA contribution and would be penalized 6 percent. I frantically called my financial advisor and she told me the IRS agent was mistaken. After reading your post, I now understand that what I did was a direct transfer and was not related to any kind of rollover. I can sleep better tonight knowing that the IRS isn't coming after my retirement nestegg. Thanks for a wonderful post at a most appropriate time. Jo